Back at the Consumer Electronics Show, Intel trotted out its Ghost Canyon NUC (or NUC 9 Extreme Kit, if you prefer), a lunchbox-sized PC with the potential to punch way above its weight class. Now a month later, Asus has come out swinging with a couple of compact GeForce RTX 2060 graphics cards designed to fit inside.
The new Dual GeForce RTX 2060 Mini (DUAL-RTX2060-6G-Mini) and Dual GeForce RTX 2060 Mini OC edition (DUAL-RTX2060-O6G-Mini) both measure 7.8-inches long, 4.8-inches high, and 1.5-inches wide. In addition to fitting inside a Ghost Canyon NUC, these would also work well for most small form factor (SFF) PCs.
These cards occupy two expansion slots to accommodate the IP5X dust-resistant cooling solution. For these shortened models, Asus says it redesigned the cooling shroud, heatsink, and heatpipe layout to facilitate better cooling performance. Each card is equipped with a pair of "axial-tech" fans.
"Newly designed for the latest generation of top-end ROG graphics cards, these fans feature a smaller hub that facilitates longer blades and a barrier ring to increase downward air pressure," Asus says.
In Gaming mode, the regular 2060 Mini sticks to reference specs, those being a 1,365MHz base clock and 1,680MHz boost clock. However, users can squeeze out a bit of extra performance by selecting OC mode, which bumps the boost clock to 1,710MHz.
The 2060 Mini OC edition also sports a 1,365MHz base clock in Game mode, but a faster 1,725MHz boost clock. Likewise, there is an OC mode available, which pushes the boost clock to 1,755MHz.
Asus did not say when these cards will land at retail or how much they will cost. As a point of reference, EVGA's GeForce RTX 2060 KO Gaming card is just slightly longer (7.96-inches) and costs $299.99. Zotac also offers a shortened model that sells for $319.99, though it's a little longer as well at 8.3 inches.
